US20030138068A1 - Method for transmutation of long-lived radioactive isotopes into short-lived or stable isotopes - Google Patents

Method for transmutation of long-lived radioactive isotopes into short-lived or stable isotopes Download PDF

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Publication number
US20030138068A1
US20030138068A1 US10/240,282 US24028202A US2003138068A1 US 20030138068 A1 US20030138068 A1 US 20030138068A1 US 24028202 A US24028202 A US 24028202A US 2003138068 A1 US2003138068 A1 US 2003138068A1
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lived
atoms
long
radioactive
transmutation
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US10/240,282
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Vladimir Buttsev
Galina Buttseva
Rafail Zoulkarneev
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    • G—PHYSICS
    • G21—NUCLEAR PHYSICS; NUCLEAR ENGINEERING
    • G21G—CONVERSION OF CHEMICAL ELEMENTS; RADIOACTIVE SOURCES
    • G21G1/00—Arrangements for converting chemical elements by electromagnetic radiation, corpuscular radiation or particle bombardment, e.g. producing radioactive isotopes
    • G21G1/04—Arrangements for converting chemical elements by electromagnetic radiation, corpuscular radiation or particle bombardment, e.g. producing radioactive isotopes outside nuclear reactors or particle accelerators
    • G21G1/12—Arrangements for converting chemical elements by electromagnetic radiation, corpuscular radiation or particle bombardment, e.g. producing radioactive isotopes outside nuclear reactors or particle accelerators by electromagnetic irradiation, e.g. with gamma or X-rays

Definitions

  • This invention relates to nuclear physics and can be used for neutralizing the long-lived radioactive isotopes contained, for instance, in radioactive waste (RW) of nuclear engineering.
  • RW radioactive waste
  • the passive methods are based on the storage of RW under control for the period of time sufficient for the natural reduction of the radioactivity level to safe values.
  • One of the passive methods of rendering RW harmless consists in storage of it under control in shielding containers which isolate the RW from the environment. This, method includes deep burying of the shielding containers for the period of time sufficient for rendering RW harmless [1]. This period of lime during which the storage of RW under control is carried out is about 1000 years.
  • the disadvantage of method [1] is a long period of time necessary for rendering RW harmless, during which the leakage of radioactive products is possible due to the break of leak-tightness of the containers, for example, in the case of tectonic instability or other emergency situations.
  • Active methods of rendering RW harmless include transmutation of long-lived radioactive components into short-lived or stable ones under the influence of the external field or irradiation [2], [3], [4],[5], [6].
  • the radioactive products are influenced by the external electrostatic field.
  • electrostatic field As a source of electrostatic field (‘irradiator of magnetic mono fields”) the Van de Graaf electrostatic generator is used according to method [2], and according to method [3]—a system of conducting strips rolled-up into the Mebius ribbon.
  • the long-lived components of the RW are radiated by the beam of fast neutrons produced as the result of interactions between the target-converter and the beam of accelerated protons with the energy of 1-10 GeV, according to method [5]—they are directly radiated by the beam of accelerated protons with the energy of 20-40 MeV, and according to method [6],—by the flow of gamma-quants produced as the result of the magnetic braking of electrons having been accelerated up to ultra relativistic energies.
  • method [7] the irradiation is carried out by the RF range radiation with a very high density of the energy flow. This method is carried out by use of the much simpler and cheaper equipment than the equipment required by methods [4], [5], and [6].
  • the disadvantage of method [7] is a low efficiency of transmutation.
  • the reduction of time necessary for the radioactive isotope decay was 0.65% at the energy flow density 0.5 ⁇ 10 ⁇ 2 J/cm 2 and 1.0% at the energy flow density 5 ⁇ 10 ⁇ 2 J/cm 2 .
  • the general object of the invention is to increase the efficiency of transmutation of long-lived radioactive isotopes.
  • Another object of the invention is to provide an effective RW transmutation without using nuclear collisional reactions and, thus, to avoid production of RW co-products.
  • the particular object of the invention is to provide the transmutation of the given part of the atoms. It is achieved by a method recited in claim 2
  • the specific object of the invention is to provide an opportunity to select the type of electromagnetic radiation depending on the equipment available. This object is achieved by a method recited in claims 3-6
  • the invention has one moire object which is to increase additionally the efficiency of transmutation. It is achieved by a method recited in claim 7
  • FIG. 1 is a principal diagram illustrating an example of realizing the method taking into account its perspectives
  • the proposed method of transmutation is based on the physical phenomenon which consists in the following: deep ionization of atoms changes the parameters of a potential well in which the nucleons of atoms are located. As a consequence the system of nuclear energetic levels in the ionized radioactive atom is shifted relative to the levels of the initial nucleus in the neutral atom. This shift opens the channel of the accelerated Beta-decay in the radioactive ionized atom with the transfer of the parent long-lived nuclei into the daughter short-lived or stable nuclei-isobars with the next ordinal number. For radioactive nuclei in the neutral atom these transfers are forbidden by the law of energy conservation.
  • the proposed method can be carried-out, for example, at the installation which principal diagram is presented at FIG. 1.
  • the transmutation is carried out in the following way: A portion of the prepared radioactive substance in the gaseous state is introduced into gas target 2 and located inside vacuum chamber 1 . All the facilities realizing the gas target in the vacuum chamber, including the input and output of gas, are described in, for example, [10].
  • the electromagnetic radiation in a form of charge-article beam 3 moving on the closed orbits crosses gas target 2 many times.
  • This charge-particle beam can be produced, for example, by the accelerator of charged particles [11 ].
  • Gas target 2 is surrounded by the cylindrical electrode 4 and edge electrodes 5 which have the given potential relative to land. That is why the positive ions of the radioactive substance produced as the result of radiation are locked in gas target 2 by the electric field of positive electrodes 4 , 5 and are accumulated in it. Electrodes 4 and 5 should not prevent the radiation and for this purpose they can be fabricated as grids.
  • the ionized atoms of the radioactive isotope produced in gas target 2 are kept in the ionized state till their transfer (as the result of the Beta-decay of the nuclei) into the atoms of the short-lived or stable isotope.
  • Keeping the ionized atoms from recombination can be carried out, for example, in the same gas target 2 locked by the field of electrodes 4 , 5 , or in electromagnetic trap 8 .
  • the produced ions of the radioactive substance move from gas target 2 to the electromagnetic trap 8 using the accelerating electrode 6 and focusing elements 7 .
  • the positive potential is taken off from one of edge electrodes 5 and the negative potential is applied to the next electrode 6 .
  • the space of gas target 2 is vacated of the ions and can be filled with a new portion of the substance having been transmuted.
  • trap 8 the device and the principle of action of the electromagnetic trap is described, for example, in [12]
  • the produced ions of the radioactive substance move in vacuum along the closed orbits and, thus, are kept from recombination till the transfer of them into the atoms of the short-lived or stable isotope.
  • the transmuted substance by means of focusing elements 9 is output into container-collector 10 and the trap 8 is vacated for a new portion of the ionized atoms of the parent isotope.
  • the time necessary for keeping the atoms of the mother isotope in the ionized state is determined by the value T—life-time of the parent isotope under the conditions of the accelerated Beta-decay. If the given degree of reducing the radioactivity level of the substance requires the transmutation of the kN atoms of the initial substance, where k is the coefficient of the generation of the daughter isotope, then the total time of keeping atoms of the mother isotope in the ionized state (in gas target 2 and in trap 8 ) should exceed KT. As a rule, the keeping time equal to 3 t is sufficient for practically completed transmutation of the ionized radioactive isotope.
  • the charge-particle beams which can be used as electromagnetic radiation are the beam of electrons, or protons, or ions also the photon flow.
  • the radiation of target 2 by beam 3 of the charged accelerated particles can be brought into coincidence with the additional radiation from the source 11 (for example, the laser) by photon flow 13 .
  • Beam 3 and flow 13 pass through transparent windows 12 of vacuum chamber 1 .
  • a total number N of the ions of the parent-isotope with the open channel of the accelerated Beta-decay produced under the influence of radiation can be determined by formula:
  • n a number of the beam passing through the radiated area
  • the proposed method allows one to carry out the transmutation of the long-lived radioactive isotopes without using the nuclear collisional reactions and production of RW co-products.

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  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
  • General Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • High Energy & Nuclear Physics (AREA)
  • Medicines That Contain Protein Lipid Enzymes And Other Medicines (AREA)
  • Particle Accelerators (AREA)
  • Organic Low-Molecular-Weight Compounds And Preparation Thereof (AREA)
US10/240,282 2000-03-30 2001-03-28 Method for transmutation of long-lived radioactive isotopes into short-lived or stable isotopes Abandoned US20030138068A1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
RU2000107659 2000-03-30
RU2000107659/06A RU2169405C1 (ru) 2000-03-30 2000-03-30 Способ трансмутации долгоживущих радиоактивных изотопов в короткоживущие или стабильные

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EP (1) EP1274099A2 (ru)
RU (1) RU2169405C1 (ru)
WO (1) WO2001073474A2 (ru)

Cited By (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US20080113423A1 (en) * 2004-05-30 2008-05-15 Michael Philip Hindley Method Of Treating Radioactive Waste
GB2444525A (en) * 2006-12-04 2008-06-11 Alan Charles Sturt Method and apparatus for reducing the radioactivity of a particle
CN107430896A (zh) * 2015-03-20 2017-12-01 国立研究开发法人理化学研究所 放射性废物的处理方法
US10049778B2 (en) * 2012-09-14 2018-08-14 Ecole Polytechnique Arrangement for generating a proton beam and an installation for transmutation of nuclear wastes

Families Citing this family (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US6738446B2 (en) * 2000-02-24 2004-05-18 General Atomics System and method for radioactive waste destruction
RU2569095C1 (ru) * 2014-07-04 2015-11-20 Федеральное Государственное Автономное Образовательное Учреждение Высшего Профессионального Образования "Дальневосточный Федеральный Университет" (Двфу) Способ дезактивации радиоактивных отходов

Family Cites Families (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE3273860D1 (en) * 1982-07-23 1986-11-20 University Patents Inc Method and apparatus for induced nuclear beta decay
AU3669593A (en) * 1992-08-04 1994-03-03 Telander, William L. Method for transmutation of select isotopes of individual elements from compositions containing such
RU2061266C1 (ru) * 1992-11-10 1996-05-27 Иван Михайлович Шахпаронов Способ обеззараживания радиоактивных материалов
RU2003191C1 (ru) * 1993-01-18 1993-11-15 Игорь Петрович Еремеев Способ трансмутации изотопов
RU2100858C1 (ru) * 1995-07-31 1997-12-27 Научно-исследовательский институт ядерной физики при Томском политехническом университете Способ обработки радиоактивных отходов

Cited By (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US20080113423A1 (en) * 2004-05-30 2008-05-15 Michael Philip Hindley Method Of Treating Radioactive Waste
US7732189B2 (en) 2004-05-30 2010-06-08 Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (Proprietary) Limited Method of treating radioactive waste
GB2444525A (en) * 2006-12-04 2008-06-11 Alan Charles Sturt Method and apparatus for reducing the radioactivity of a particle
GB2444525B (en) * 2006-12-04 2011-10-05 Alan Charles Sturt Method and apparatus for reducing the radioactivity of a particle
US10049778B2 (en) * 2012-09-14 2018-08-14 Ecole Polytechnique Arrangement for generating a proton beam and an installation for transmutation of nuclear wastes
CN107430896A (zh) * 2015-03-20 2017-12-01 国立研究开发法人理化学研究所 放射性废物的处理方法

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WO2001073474A2 (fr) 2001-10-04
EP1274099A2 (en) 2003-01-08
RU2169405C1 (ru) 2001-06-20
WO2001073474A3 (fr) 2001-12-27

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